Why it matters: Biden and his top advisers were shocked after Hamas killed six hostages, among them U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and have started torethink the way forward in the negotiations over the deal.
- At the same time, Hamas’ new demand to increase the number of Palestinian prisoners released as part of the deal raised even more concerns and questions among U.S. negotiators about whether an agreement is possible, U.S. officials said.
Behind the scenes: U.S. officials said one of the main arguments made in the meeting was that after Hamas murdered the hostages, including an American, the U.S. shouldn’t push for a proposal that gives Hamas additional concessions and instead focus on applying more pressure and accountability measures against Hamas.
- A concern raised in the situation room meeting was that the U.S. could press Israel to reduce Israel Defense Forces deployed along the Egypt-Gaza border or on other issues, only to discover that Hamas doesn’t agree to other parts of the deal. That could mean the new offer would only become the foundation for future negotiations that would be more favorable to Hamas, a U.S. official said.
- During the situation room meeting, Biden was briefed about the Department of Justice plan to publish indictments against Hamas leaders, which have been sealed since February, one U.S. official said.